I still have to reach some serious speed, in France speed limits are terrible and rather strictly enforced... which only leaves the tracks, where the typical straights are too short. Anyway, I already posted these pictures of speed taken at Dijon-Prenois - they also allow to see the difference between GPS and tachometer: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login So 277 kph (172.12 mph) is actually only 268 kph (166.52 mph). Best lap time was actually achieved with a lower top speed (there was some traffic on the track, impacting times and top speeds depending where the traffic jam did happen ): Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice. I'd say 277kph indicated is plenty fast on a track! I don't think I've ever been over 250kph indicated.
Agree. I hit 160 all of the time and my car is planted and wants more. I've done 183 in my 458. Very scary but car was very stable.
One hell of a writeup. I love the inevitable "how fast do you go?" when people learn that I do track days. "I don't really know, I'm not paying much attention to the speedometer. Those things lie anyways," is my standard answer.
There are several things which can cause the front end of a car to feel light and unstable at high speed. Now with a 458, there are a few things to check. Most important is the alignment. Many Ferraris are not set properly from the factory, which will often cause a light or floating front end at speed. Usually the toe is set wrong and it's too little. A combined toe out of about 6-8 minutes is not enough, but very common unfortunately. It's especially bad with the light rack of the 458. For a 458 to run really well, combined front toe should be 14bminutes or so, and rear should be at least 24 combined toe in. I've experienced one 458 which felt really off at high speed, but that was because it had been lowered. Lowering in itself is not an issue, but when the rear is lowered more than the front, the rake of the car is changed, and that can have a massive impact. This car was lowered 15 mm front, but 25 mm rear as the owner thought that looked the best. Sadly, it does seem to be common practice to lower the rear a lot more on these cars in the name of cosmetic appearance. This also matters because many Ferraris are also delivered with ride height set incorrectly. Not only are they often too high which in itself can cause the front to go light, but the rake is off as well. If all the above is taken care of, the car should never feel light, especially at 150 mph. Sent from my SM-G930F using FerrariChat.com mobile app
You got that right...at the speed events like the one I linked above, we never look at the speedo...doing so leads to missing the flags that mark the braking zone. As strange as it seems, several people have been injured while looking down at the speedo, only to realize that they flew past the signs and ran out of braking room. Saw this happen to a very experienced driver and it resulted in the mother of all brake checks. (he was actually looking at his oil pressure gauge, but same idea). They always tell us, "don't look at anything but the horizon!" Makes sense, given that at 200 mph, you are covering a football field per second.
155mph iPhone 12 GPS with Harry's Track App back straight at Sebring. Speedo showed 158mph. Which one is correct, who knows, is GPS lagging in the app and old iPhone 12 or is 488 speedo correct? Only did a few laps to check it out and show a student around so I was no where near driving at my potential out plus lots of traffic to get around. Given more seat time in the 488 that day and getting through T16 better I would say the car has a 158 maybe 160mph on the Harry's App in it right before the brake zone into T17. My Porsche 2018 GT3 which I drove a lot harder and knew that car on track at limit a lot better would hit 152/153mph because of getting through T16 a lot faster than I did in the 488. I do not drive anyway like this on the street and one the track I am never looking at the speedo or the tach much. I will monitor the oil and coolant temp and tire temp on the long back straight. Image Unavailable, Please Login